The Bravery of the Lion and the Bowstring
by DjDangerLove
Summary: A young Kili is finally allowed to go on a day's travel with Uncle Thorin, but an orc attack changes everything.
1. Part 1

I own nothing except an imagination and a heart that loves Middle Earth.

Kili's roughly the equivalent to a human of five or six years.

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><p><em>Fear made a terrible quiver in his body as he stared at the prone form on the ground and with hitched breath and unsteady feet, he crossed the short distance between them only to collapse to his knees beside the fallen dwarf with a desperate plea.<em>

_Small fingers gripped at the furs and cloth of the elder with little strength, but shook him nonetheless causing his limp body to wiggle back and forth like a loose baby tooth needing to stay in a bit longer before being pulled. Deafening cries fell on already deaf ears, turning to meaningless shouts instead of desolate sobs and the young dwarf yelled out into the deserted distance for aid, but even that wasn't to be heard._

_"No!" He choked on the cry and swallowed hard, hopelessly searching for anyone that could help but all he could see were bodies of slain orcs and men, and the one of Thorin Oakenshield._

_His lips trembled along with the rest of his body enslaved by panic and horror as he slipped underneath the arm of the fallen dwarf and buried his tear-soaked face into the familiar furs of his uncle's cloak one last time._

_And to think, it was supposed to be Kili's lucky day._

* * *

><p>A few hours prior...<p>

The wind blew beneath grey clouds on the luckiest day of Kili's life.

As his cloak swayed off his frame with nature's gusts, he added his own bursts of air as he jumped from one of Thorin's footprints to the next while trailing behind his elder on their way to deliver an order from the forge to a nearby settlement of men. Landing in one muddied indention, he scouted the next with the eyes of a hunter and leapt with precision only to be outdone by the damp ground beneath his feet. His arms flailed in an involuntary dance to keep his balance as he giggled with anticipation for the mud bath that was sure to occur. However, a large hand caught the hood of his cloak while another encircled his wrist in aid.

Sheepishly squinted eyes above a wide grin met the straight face of Thorin Oakenshield with a faint laugh. "Sorry, uncle," Kili mumbled while shrugging back into his cloak that had managed to slip off his shoulders when the older dwarf had halfway caught him by the garment.

Thorin watched him, eyes trailing down to the ground where two small feet had slightly widened one of his own footprints before raising an eyebrow at the energetic prince who was just tall enough to bury his face in Thorin's hip during a moment of discomfort, yet small enough to still manage to hide in the cupboards at home and scare his mother half to death when she opened them.

"Your Amad is the one you'll be apologizing to if you come back with your cloak a mess. She just managed to repair it from your last bout of climbing trees. Let's avoid that stern talking to upon our return if we can help it."

Kili's grin widened as his teeth appeared between parted lips stirring movement in Thorin's beard as his own lips twitched, but before the young dwarf could reply a rough hand pulled his oversized hood so far atop his head it nearly swallowed him as it was ruffled.

"Uncle," he playfully groaned as he bumped into his elder's leg while pushing his hood off his head.

"Leave it on," Thorin chided lightly as he once again began walking in the direction of the settlement. "Don't need you taking after your brother."

Kili settled the cloth approvingly over his head and fell in step with his uncle who had lessened his strides considerably so that the dwafling could keep up. "Thorin," he asked, tugging on the King's sleeve as if his voice wasn't enough to gain his full attention. "Will Fili be better by the time we get back?"

Thorin squeezed the small hand that had suddenly wiggled between his fingers and shook it slightly. "I doubt it, Kili, but he will be soon. Oin assured us it was just a nasty cold, remember?"

Thorin glanced down to see Kili nod his head and loosened the hold on his nephew's hand so that he could slip away in order to run off his energy ahead of him on the open plain, but Kili's hand tightened around two of his fingers instead as he stared at the ground. The King Under the Mountain shook his fingers again, effectively shaking off his nephew. "Surely, you didn't drive your mother and I mad so you could study grass blades. How will you tell Fili anything about our quest if you don't explore? Run along," he nudged with a slight chuckle as Kili's grin returned and he dashed ahead. "But stay close!" he warned while lengthening his strides.

Kili's somber mood vanished as quickly as an arrow from a bow as he ran along in front of his uncle who had granted him the luckiest day of his life. Kili had always wanted to accompany Thorin on one of his trips to the surrounding settlements as Fili had gotten to do for the last year, but each time he begged and pleaded both his mother and uncle denied him by saying things like, "You're too young, Kili," or "You're too small, Kili," and he'd always been left behind standing on the porch like a carved statue until his brother and uncle disappeared from sight. Only then did he move to clutch at Dis' skirts and hide his wet face in them until she coaxed him out of his hurt feelings.

But not today. Today was different! Fili had woken with a nasty cold and upon Oin's arrival, the healer had instructed Dis to keep her oldest in bed and Kili away from him as much as possible so that the youngest hopefully wouldn't catch it.

Oin had left, but his medicines stayed behind to line the small table in between the brothers' beds as Dis sat next to Fili and helped him drink the first dose. Kili watched worriedly from the doorway, fingers working around the framed entrance of their room in a distressed manner until Thorin appeared behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder in silent comfort.

"How's Fili?"

"He'll be alright with some rest," Dis replied over her shoulder but gave a brief glance at Kili before turning to her brother in a silent conversation.

Thorin understood, but replied, "I've got to deliver a sword and bow in the settlement on the East," hoping that would change her mind. She simply raised an eyebrow at him at the peculiar mention of the bow before turning back to her ill child. The forge wasn't accustomed to making many bows, but the last trip he'd taken to the settlement, Thorin had struck a deal with a man he'd come to know rather well and offered to make the archer's weapon along with some new arrows in exchange for food that they could harvest for the upcoming winter so as to ease his sister's worries of not having enough for her growing children.

Once Fili had swallowed the medicine offered by his mother and turned over on his side to get some sleep, Dis stood and guided her brother alongside her healthy son to the sitting room of the house. She caught Thorin's gaze once more as Kili moved one of his tiny wooden horses along the arm of one of the chairs, and the king glanced between the two of them with uncertainty until Dis narrowed her eyes mouthing, "You're been there dozens of times with Fili."

Thorin clenched his teeth, but nodded reluctantly as he watched his small nephew decide that his toy horse was more fun to play with if it was falling off things and hitting the ground with a loud clank.

"Kili." He called, his eyes still locked on his sister's. When the sound of wooden horses hitting the floor ceased to exist, he glanced at the child and motioned him over while kneeling down. "How'd you like to help me deliver a sword from the forge today?"

An audible intake of air was heard as Kili's mouth fell open before splitting his face into a disbelieving grin. "Really?"

Thorin nodded in response even though Kili continued with a trail of other questions that he didn't particularly give mind to. Once his nephew turned his excited inquiries to his mother after sensing lack of attention, Thorin stood and went to retrieve their cloaks from the rack. He shrugged into his as Dis guided Kili over and helped him get his shaking arms into the garment. Both brother and sister worked to hide their grins at Kili's involuntary display of excitement, but found it difficult as he bounced on the balls of his feet at the door.

"So I can really go with you, Uncle? I'm...I'm not too small anymore?" Kili asked a bit timidly despite his energy. Thorin had no trouble getting rid of his grin after that, because he felt one of Dis' patented glares on him.

"Ah...no, Kili. Not for this trip," he tested, eyes still on his sibling for approval, but her gaze darkened.

"Kili," Dis intercepted as she knelt down and pulled the cloak tighter around her youngest with the autumn air in mind, "what you're uncle means to say is that you're old enough now to accompany him to this particular settlement. It's not far, and your uncle and I have been there many times, so we think it safe for you to be able to go now. It's never had anything to do with how big or small you are. It's age, Kili. Alright?"

Thorin then understood the reason behind the figurative daggers thrown his way, because a lot of people mentioned Kili's small size in an unkind manner and in some cases it had left his youngest heir in tears and the mother seizing every opportunity to encourage him that nothing in life was determined by his stature.

Kili accepted her explanation with a wide smile and grabbed at his uncle's fingers trying to pull him towards the door. Thorin chuckled quietly, waving at Dis as he allowed himself to be moved forward. "We'll be back for supper," he nodded to her, then turned his attention back to Kili still tugging on his arm, "Slow down, lad. We still have to stop by the forge."

Therefore, Kili had declared it his lucky day seeing as how he had been granted his most desired wish four years before Thorin and Dis said they would allow for it to come to pass, but when they arrived at the settlement his declaration should've been written down in the record books in the Blue Mountains next to the grand tales of his grandfather and great-grandfather, because as they strolled through the market after making their first delivery of the sword, Kili spotted the perfect get-well gift for Fili. Pulling on his uncle's fingers once more, he guided them into a small toy booth until they stood before a table of wooden swords without any opposition from Thorin considering the elder had given up resisting being led by his nephew long ago.

Raising an eyebrow at the youngest prince, Thorin questioned him with a knowing smirk, "And just why have you led us to these playthings?"

"Because," Kili began to answer, but let his eyes wander around the rest of the shop until they fell upon a row of wooden horses much bigger than the ones he had at home. Thorin noticed what had captured his attention and had found it odd that it wasn't the first thing he was led to since his youngest sister-son still favored toy dwarf soldiers and their horses over the wooden weapons that Fili had begun to acquire a taste for.

"Yes?" Thorin asked so as to get a response.

Kili pulled his eyes away from the horses and set his focus back on the swords in front of them. "Because I think a new sword would make Fili feel better, don't you?"

Thorin scratched his beard, searching the shop for the old man that owned the place that he'd already laid eyes on when they entered just as a way to hide the way his lips curled upwards. "And which one do you think could do such a thing?"

Kili stood on his tiptoes and scanned them just to be certain, but upon more speculation he went with his original find and pointed to one with a lion carved on the handle. "That one!"

"Aye," Thorin agreed as he picked it up and tested it as if a real sword to indulge his nephew. "I think this would suit Fili perfectly. Anything else?" He inquired as he followed Kili's gaze back to the wooden horses across the shop. After a few brief seconds, Kili shook his head and shyly took up his uncle's fingers on his free hand again while falling slightly behind his leg as the old shopkeeper appeared before them.

"Is that all I can interest you in, Thorin?" Ansley, an aging man with a hunched frame and wiry, grey hair, took the sword as the dwarf handed it to him with a smile reserved for friends. Thorin had been here several times with Fili over the past year and unbeknownst to Kili, several of his play figures had come from this very shop where Fili had found the smallest horses to fit his younger brother's hands.

"Yes," Thorin replied, but motioned for the toymaker to give him a moment before turning to Kili who still clung to his sudden shyness around another race from behind his leg.

"I think there's some catapults by the door, why don't you go look at them while I purchase Fili's sword?"

Kili's shyness forgotten, he darted to the mentioned toys leaving his uncle snorting in amusement. "Just don't break anything," he called over his shoulder as he walked to the counter.

Ansley chuckled as Thorin approached, "I take it that is the one Fili's been buying the horses for."

"Aye, Kili," Thorin replied while peering over his shoulder to check on his youngest who jumped when he set off an empty catapult. Turning back around, he smiled at the toymaker. "Fili's a bit under the weather, so Kili has the pleasure of accompanying me today."

"Pleasure?" Ansley teased, before adding, "So no horse today?"

"Actually, give us one the one with the blue reigns there, third shelf," Thorin answered, lowering his voice so it didn't carry through the shop.

"Oh, a larger horse. You're right. Kili does have the pleasure of accompanying you," the man spoke as he slowly retrieved the desired plaything.

Thorin, while turning over the coins in his hand to pay for his items, was about to respond when the sound of glass shattering reverberated around the store followed by a startled shriek. Thinking his second heir had broken the shop window with one of the catapults, Thorin immediately began to reprimanded him by growling out his name, "Kili!"

But suddenly a trembling dwarfling was attached to his leg, fingers digging into the limb with painful pinches and soft whimpers. "Kili, what in Durin's name-" Thorin began, but was cut off by the sound of more glass shattering and terrified shrieks from outside.

"M-monsters!" Kili wailed into Thorin's leg and hid himself underneath the exiled king's long cloak.

"Orcs!" came a man's yell from somewhere down the market, and Thorin immediately looked to Ansley who turned his gaze to Kili.

"Go! There's a hidden cupboard in the back. I'll keep him safe," Ansley said, already moving around the counter to grab the young dwarf.

"Ansley..." Thorin began, but the old toymaker nodded his head.

"With my life, Thorin. I promise." He said, old fingers finding his shoulder and squeezing it with reassurance, though it did little.

Thorin glanced out the window, seeing a few women run by before turning back to Kili and peeling him off his leg and out of his cloak while bending down. "Kili, look at me!" he demanded, and felt pride swell through him as his nephew suddenly calmed and blinked at him in obedience. He gave him a small smile and wiped at the moisture on the face of his nephew. "Go with Ansley. You do exactly as he tells you, and only him! Stay with him until I come find you. Understood?"

"But uncle, I-" Kili started to protest, but Thorin shook his head and grabbed him around the back of the neck in a show of comfort and to ground him in the situation.

"Kili, I'll come find you, I promise. Go with Ansley. Now!" Thorin ordered as he ushered Kili into Ansley's hands and stood.

"Uncle!" Kili called as he watched his elder run towards the front and open the door. "Thorin!"

Pausing with one foot out the exit, Thorin turned back one last time with the promise of, "I'll be right back," and then he was gone.


	2. Part 2

_Thorin groaned as his head beat against his skull with the thunderous pounding of his heart. Blinking against the grit collected in his eyes, he opened them to colors of dust and smoke swirling into a dizzying effect before him. He began to pull his arm up to work his fingers over his eyelids in attempt to sort out his vision but stopped short when his arm brushed up against something that felt foreign to his body._

_Pushing himself up on an elbow, he winced as his muscles protested the movement and his head spun like a tumbleweed caught in the wind. He blinked quickly and managed to regain his vision enough to notice a small body lying next to his. Jumping up to a seated position, his cloak uncovered the small form hidden in his furs and he felt his breath escape him._

_"Kili?"_

_But the dwarfling didn't stir and Thorin reached out to shake him, turning him over on his back. His mouth dried out like the dust in the plains at the sight of his pale sister-son lying limp and bleeding._

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><p>Ansley had never made much money as a toymaker, but his long life had been full of riches. The most valued of all being his beloved wife he'd taken to when he neared the end of his schooling. Aldis had been her name and he'd engraved it into a crescent moon of carved wood, reminding her of the night he'd first laid eyes upon her and the light he'd always look for to get him through the day. She accepted it, along with his hand in courting, and soon they began the rest of their lives together. Their happiness was only deterred by the miscarriage of their first and only child, as Aldis did not want to chance welcoming such pain to their lives for a second time. But Ansley always adored her love for children as he too shared the admiration. So, with his craftsman's trade, he started a toyshop where Aldis painted the toys he built before selling them to the young boys and girls of their settlement for less money than they were worth. However, they lived happily off the little money they made and the joy they brought to children until Aldis gave into illness a few years back and left Ansley, the children, and toys behind.<p>

But before she passed, Aldis made sure to tell her husband something she always said to him when he doubted his decision to become a toymaker and provide so little for her. She had stroked his cheek before pushing his hair back behind his ear with a soft whisper of, "My sweet Ansley, one day you'll value the true gold of love and happiness you've given so freely and when you do, you'll give even more because your troubled heart will be settled."

He'd always loved to hear her say it and upon her passing, it came to him on the wind, but no matter how many times it was heard, he'd never really understood what she meant until the moment he stood before a trembling dwarf stricken with fear looking to him to convince him that nothing would harm him or his absent uncle.

Giving Kili the feigned, broad grin he'd had a few years of practicing while mourning Aldis, he took the young prince's hand and quickly guided him to the back of the store where he intended to keep them hidden, but as he felt the panic running through jittery limb in his hand, they passed the shelf that stored the wooden animal figurines and Ansley was thankful for his experience with children.

Stopping for a brief moment, he knelt down with cracking bones to be at the dwarf's height and pointed to the shelf. "Why don't you pick out an animal and I can show you how to carve your name it while we wait for your uncle's return?"

Kili's fearful gaze wandered to the last place he'd seen his uncle, before turning back to Ansley's infectious grin that put him slightly at ease.

"Okay," he nodded as he quickly scanned the animals to pick from before finding the one he wanted and pointing to it. Once the toymaker had it in his hands, Kili tugged on his sleeve, "But...do you know how to spell Thorin?"

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><p>Kili sat close to Mister Ansley in the small closet that the toymaker had ushered them into and watched the old man twirl a wooden lion figure in his hands through the light coming from the crack of the door.<p>

"You're certain of the lion, then?" Ansley whispered, pulling out a small knife.

Kili watched the light gleam off of the sharp object a moment before nodding as his small arms tightened their hold around his bent legs.

"And you want the engraving right here?"

Kili nodded again and watched in fascination as the the old man carved the wood until the last letter was finished. Ansley held the lion out to him for him to inspect when a sudden crash came from inside the shop. Kili jumped, sending the lion clattering between them and hidden underneath a dusty coat off to the side.

Ansley peered out of the crack in the door of the closet, seeing an orc sniff the air outside the shop window, and turn back to Kili.

"Son, what say you if we stretch our legs for a brief moment and change our hiding spot? It's rather dusty in here and the smell will ruin my nose for the rest of my days. Your uncle would be none to pleased with these conditions I'm afraid."

Kili blinked at him, not wanting to move from in between his dark corner and the man but understood his reasoning. If his uncle wasn't happy, then nobody would be. He nodded while letting Ansley take his hand and lead him out of the closet, but suddenly another crash was heard and Kili felt himself being shoved into a tiny cupboard before he realized what was happening.

Kili curled up in the dark corner as the old man ordered, "Stay here, child. Do not make any noise or come out until you see the face of your uncle peek through this door, understood?"

"Wh-what about you, Mister Ansley?"

"I'll be alright, Kili. I'm just going to make sure the or- the monsters don't come this way. Please, just wait here as your uncle instructed, do not come out until you see him," Ansley pleaded in a rush as calmly as possible.

Kili nodded that he understood, although Ansley could visibly see the shudders running through his bunched up frame. He smiled at him once more to ease his nerves before moving to shut the cupboard door, but a small hand suddenly prevented it from closing.

"Mister Ansley? Are- are you going to help my uncle?"

And then, staring at the wide, desperate eyes of Kili, wanting nothing more than to be held safely in his uncle's arms in a world of happiness he was accustomed to, Ansley finally understood what his wife had meant after all those years. He wasn't a king, or wealthy man, but he had something more precious than gold or a kingdom, he had love and happiness and the boy before him quivering at the thought of his own being taken away.

With one last smile, Ansley stroked the dwarf's cheek, answering, "Yes, Kili. I'm going to help him," and closing the door before doing as his wife said he would, before giving his last ounce of love and happiness to a boy and his uncle.

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><p>Pulling his legs close to his chest, the youngest heir of Durin buried his head into his knees, wishing that Thorin, or at the very least Ansley would come back soon, but as he thought of both elders, he suddenly remembered the lion he and Ansley had worked on and something his brother said a few days before that prompted him to have it made.<p>

"_Fili, no! There's monsters! Come back!" Kili called after his brother from underneath the covers of Fili's bed. Moments before, the older prince had suddenly been jarred from his sleep as a familiar sized mass slammed into him with soft whimpers and clingy fingers. Fili had let his younger brother bury himself into his side and held him there as he calmed down from a dream about goblins. _

"_Hush, Kili, you'll wake mother and uncle! It was just a dream, there's nothing here to hurt you. I'll be right back," Fili called from the doorway as he went to get a drink of water from the kitchen. _

_He'd made it two and half steps down the hall before the same familiar mass planted itself by his side and a small hand captured his left fingers. Giving the hand a gentle squeeze, he rolled his eyes but guided his brother to the dining table in the kitchen before pulling two cups from the cupboards and filling them with water from the pail. He sat down beside Kili at the table, close enough on the bench that their shoulders brushed against one another as they drank in silence until Kili whispered his name._

"_Hmm?"_

"_How come you're not 'fraid of monsters?"_

_Fili froze for a moment before taking a long sip of water. He was afraid of monsters, well orcs and such in the tales Uncle Thorin and Mister Dwalin told, but he couldn't possibly let his his little brother know that. _

"_Uh...well, you remember the story Amad tells you before you go to bed, the one about Keyon, the lion?"_

"_Uh huh," Kili nodded quickly, sloshing the water in his cup as he held it between his hands. _

"_Well you know how Keyon is afraid to go hunting at first, but realizes he has to because the other lions depend on him?"_

_Kili nodded again, sliding even closer to Fili. _

"_It's like that, Kili. You gotta be brave, like the lion, even when you don't want to be," Fili ruffled his hair, before grabbing their empty cups and setting them by the wash bin. Kili was by his side again, trapping his fingers in his small hand as they walked back to their bedroom. Fili didn't bother with leading his brother to his bed, instead settled them both back in his own. _

Suddenly a loud crash came from somewhere in the shop, causing Kili to jump. Gasping at the voice of Ansley yelling from somewhere in the shop, Kili pressed his spine into the corner of the cupboard in hiding. However, Ansley's voice suddenly ceased to exist as if it were never there at all and with a thud trailing right behind the horrifying silence, the youngest son of Dis flinched violently as a loud crash echoed in the back room and footfalls could be felt through the floor of the cupboard.

He felt his arms quiver with undeniable panic and his heart beat oddly against his chest as his lungs struggled for oxygen but suddenly a shadow ran across the thin layer of light from the crack in the cupboard, and Kili stopped breathing all together as he waited, desperately hoping it was Thorin coming to get him.

However, Thorin's youngest sister-son had spent too many nights lying awake waiting for his uncle to come home from the forge and was able to recognize the sound of his footsteps so he knew that the ones he heard didn't belong to the dwarf he wanted to see. Trying to hold his breath, he shook with effort as he listened to the footsteps travel further through the shop and away from his hiding place and finally let go of the air in his lungs with a wheezy exhale. A shakier breath filled his lungs once more before the footsteps started to come back.

Call it blind panic or irrational fear, Kili suddenly found himself unable to stay hidden, his mind shoving images of monsters' faces into the opening of the cupboard with sharp teeth waiting to devour him like a carved pig. Darting out from his hiding place without so much as glance around him, he ran for the door to follow the direction he'd seen his uncle take but suddenly the world flipped upside down as his foot caught on something, spilling him to the floor.

Turning to see what had tripped him, Kili's gaze landed on Ansley's legs underneath him. Relieved to at least have found the toymaker, Kili jumped up and followed the limbs that had caused him to fall up to the rest of the old man's body to unseeing eyes wide open and blood pooling beneath his head. Scrambling back with a cry, he felt the air rush out of his lungs as his back connected with the table of catapults by the door in an attempt to get as far away from Ansley's body as possible. Choking on a collection of air and cries, he fumbled his way to the door and pushed it open. He let troubled air escape his lungs as he burst through the front door into a world worse than any nightmare he'd ever had.

* * *

><p>Thorin brought his sword to the neck of a fowl orc and watched its head tumble down the hill where men from the settlement fought against the roaming pack of about two dozen orcs with six wargs in their midst. The sound of thundering feet behind him caused him to turn with his sword ready and he dueled with another vile creature, quickly disposing of it before moving forward to kill more. He traveled down the path to where a large group of men were struggling against the pack, but as he passed an alleyway he caught sight of a lone warg and rider heading back towards the way he'd came, back towards the marketplace.<p>

_Kili. _

Faster than a dwarf should be able to, Thorin found himself trailing the orc and the creature between its legs down the deserted main street of the market square littered with a handful of orc remains and a few lifeless men. Coming to an abrupt halt with dust swirling alongside his boots and rocks skidding askew, Thorin quickly put his sword in its scabbard and drew the bow he had yet to deliver. Notching an arrow, he pulled back and aimed. Taking one slow breath, then another, he focused on the reverberation from the thundering of warg feet in the ground, one right after another in a heart pounding transfixion. Then, he let the air ride out of his lungs on a slow, relaxed exhale before releasing his fingers from the string, but a spilt second before the tips of his fingers slipped off the taut wire, a small form stumbled out into the path from the left side of the street clothed in a familiar cloak with a blue hood and so, with strangled gasp of breath, Thorin's bow moved slightly off its target and the arrow traveled wide to the left.

The warg, bewitched by the smell of fresh meat and the promise of bones snapping between its teeth craned its neck to snap at the small creature as he hunted down the newly acquired prey in front of him, but as it turned its watering mouth to lunge at the meal, an arrow caught it under the ear, sending it tumbling to the ground in a dead heap, dispelling its rider.

Thorin wasted no time as the beast crumpled to the ground. Sprinting forward, he called to his nephew but the dwarfling remained stock-still like his beloved play figures that lined the shelves of the toy shop behind him. Reaching Kili, Thorin pulled him to his leg without any resistance or response which didn't go unnoticed by the warrior, but he hadn't the time to coddle the boy as he searched for the missing warg rider.

He heard a filthy curse off to his right and saw the wretched thing pull himself from a pile of broken wooden crates he'd landed in from being bucked off his warg. Thorin notched an arrow without having to aim as his hands worked with his thundering heart's purpose of protecting his nephew and let the shaft fly from the bow with deadly precision. Once the orc was slain, Thorin scanned the area quickly, pulling another arrow without notching it before kneeling down in front of his youngest sister-son, placing the bow and arrow on the ground within easy reach if need be.

Dark, unblinking eyes stared straight through him from an ashen face and Thorin grasped the young dwarf's visibly trembling shoulders. "Kili! Kili, look at me!" The demand went unheard, for the second heir didn't even blink as his body shook harder. "Kili!" He growled out in frustration and if he were anybody else, he'd admit to panic as he almost felt the world tilt in front of him and heard blood rush in his ears, but Thorin Oakenshield didn't panic, not when Erebor was taken, not when his youngest sister-son stood like a statue before him, or did he?

He hadn't the time to think on it because suddenly Kili decided that he panicked and was instantly backpedaling with wide, fearful eyes and a, "Thorin!" ripping from his throat, but the warning came too late.

He felt a blinding pain in the side of his head, before his world faded to black with the last image of Kili standing in front of an orc stained in his memory.

* * *

><p>Kili watched his Uncle fall limp before turning fearful eyes to the monster that hit him with a large looking wooden club.<p>

"Come here, little one, there's no where to hide. Come now," the creature taunted him, taking a step forward as Kili took two stumbling ones back. He felt his foot bump into something and fell down beside his Uncle's discarded bow and arrow.

"_I dunno, Fee," Kili wavered taking the toy bow from his brother's outstretched hand. His brother had just demonstrated how to use it, but Kili had only ever used a stick as a pretend sword in an imaginary battle before, never a bow. He wasn't sure he could match what his brother had done and he didn't want to disappoint him. _

"_Come on, don't you want to be just like Uncle? He uses a bow sometimes," Fili encouraged and moved around his brother to position the younger dwarf to shoot the toy arrow at one of Kili's wooden soldiers placed on the fence. Bending down so he was the same height as his brother, Fili placed his hands on top of Kili's and together they pulled the arrow back and Fili helped him aim. _

"_Take a deep breath, Kili," the oldest instructed._

The orc stepped forward, barring his teeth as he did so and Kili felt blindly for the bow and arrow much bigger than the one he and Fili played with. The creature before him laughed loudly at his efforts to hold it, but Kili wasn't listening to him.

He pulled the arrow back the few inches his small muscles could manage with shaking arms and took a deep breath.

"_Now let it out," Fili said and waited for his brother to comply, "Block out all the other sounds-"_

The orc shrieked with delight as he moved closer and Kili's arms faltered before Fili's voice found him again and he pulled the arrow back once more.

"_Just listen to me, Kili. Forget everything else. Steady your hands. On the count three, we let go. One, two,-"_

The orc lunged but Kili said, "Three," and the young dwarf let his fingers slide off the string like he had in the memory.

_He watched the arrow find its mark and the toy soldier toppled off the fence followed by Fili's congratulatory shouts. "You did it, Kee!"_

_Kili grinned so wide it made his cheeks twinge, but then he shook his head._

"_No. We did!"_

_And Fili blinked at him for moment, stunned that his brother would be more excited about their accomplishment together than taking all the credit. _

_As they walked back to the house to share their stunning news with their mother and uncle, Kili grasped Fili's fingers. "Hey, Fee?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_We'll always do battle together, right?" Kili questioned, his mind plaguing him with images of battle where Fili was nowhere to be found. _

_Fili shook his brother off his fingers so he could wrap his arm around him, "Always, Nadadith. Always." _

Kili felt an awful pain in his wrist as he watched the arrow plunge through the neck of the orc leaning over him before rolling out of the way of the falling carcass. Scrambling back, he watched to make sure the monster was dead before scurrying to the side of his uncle.

Fear made a terrible quiver in his body as he stared at the prone form on the ground and with hitched breath and unsteady feet, he crossed the short distance between them only to collapse to his knees beside the fallen dwarf with a desperate plea.

Small fingers gripped at the furs and cloth of the elder with little strength, but shook him nonetheless causing his limp body to wiggle back and forth like a loose baby tooth needing to stay in a bit longer before being pulled. Deafening cries fell on already deaf ears, turning to meaningless shouts instead of desolate sobs and the young dwarf yelled out into the deserted distance for aid, but even that wasn't to be heard.

"No!" He choked on the cry and swallowed hard, hopelessly searching for anyone that could help but all he could see were bodies of slain orcs and men, and the one of Thorin Oakenshield.

His lips trembled along with the rest of his body enslaved by panic and horror as he slipped underneath the arm of the fallen dwarf and buried his tear-soaked face into the familiar furs of his uncle's cloak one last time.

And to think, it was supposed to be Kili's lucky day.

* * *

><p>Thorin groaned as his head beat against his skull with the thunderous pounding of his heart. Blinking against the grit he felt in his eyes, he opened them to colors of dust and smoke swirling into a dizzying effect before him. He began to pull his arm up to work his fingers over his eyes in attempt to sort out his vision but stopped short when his arm brushed up against something that felt foreign to his body. Pushing himself up on an elbow as he was already lying on his side, he winced as his muscles protested the movement and his head spun, but he blinked quickly and managed to regain his vision enough to notice a small body lying next to his. Jumping up to a seated position, his cloak uncovered the small form hidden in his furs and he felt his breath hitch in his chest.<p>

"Kili?"

But the dwarfling didn't stir and Thorin reached out to shake him, turning him over on his back. His mouth dried out like the dust in the plains at the sight of his pale sister-son lying limp and bleeding.

"Kili," he tried again, this time searching the surrounding area for anymore danger, noticing a second slain orc nearby with an arrow in its neck that he couldn't remember shooting, before turning back to his nephew.

"Kili!" Thorin shook him harder and elicited a response, despite it being full of terror. The youngest heir of Durin jerked with a hoarse cry, blindly trying to find the missing furs of his uncle once more, but Thorin caught him by the shoulders in an attempt to calm him while checking him over for injuries. He found the source of the blood on the boy's left wrist where it slowly seeped from a cut surrounded by already bruising skin though no bones seemed to be broken, a common archer's injury for those without practice.

Pushing that to the back of his mind, he turned his attention back to the panicked face of his nephew. "Kili, look at me!" He growled, startling the boy into a motionless trance as dark, watery eyes found his with an expression of disbelief.

"U-uncle?" Kili's mouth worked around the name, but his voice was grated in his throat. "But y-you...I-I thought...you were...de-" His voice found little volume, but managed to create a squeak as the boy cut himself off at the sight of blood on his uncle's face.

Thorin swallowed hard as he let his hand explore the area where Kili's attention had been drawn to, then pulled it back to see blood on his fingers. He wiped it on the end of his cloak. "It's alright, Kili. I'm fine. Just a headache," he tried to soothe, but his efforts yielded little result.

Wheezing breaths escaped Kili's parted lips that were bleeding from the bites of worried teeth, and Thorin pulled him to his chest, tucking him into the freshly ripped furs of his cloak again before standing.

Whether it be the change in motion or the familiarity of furs, smells, and the perfect places his body seem to bury into, Kili suddenly let out a choked cry as he clawed to make purchase on his Uncle while pushing his head into the usual spot of Thorin's neck with much more desire than ever before.

Thorin let him go where he wanted, wincing as fingers tangled in his hair to grasp at his braids, the tug jarring his already painful scalp. He felt wet tears soak into the skin of his neck and the collar of his tunic sticking out, but that wasn't the only moisture he suddenly felt and under any other circumstances he would've cringed, but instead he held his nephew tighter, pushing Kili's face further into the side of his neck while ignoring the dwarfling's urine that seeped through both their garments.

"It's alright, Kili. Just keep your eyes closed," he murmured into the unruly, black hair under his chin as he stumbled back into the toy shop to check on Ansley, but as soon as he opened the door he stopped at the sight of the man's body on floor with a gut-wrenching feeling, small footprints tracked in his blood twisting his stomach even more.

He suddenly felt as if his heart had become too heavy to pulse, wondering if Kili had seen it happen, or just seen the aftermath, but being reminded of the trembling form in his arms and the warm, wet stain between them, he realized it mattered little. His chest ached with another breath and he realized his heavy heart was due to guilt more than anything else as the memory of Kili's pleas echoed in his ears as he left him with Ansley who promised to protect Thorin's sister-son with his life.

_Oh, Mahal,_ he thought in his guilt, but a small voice stopped him.

"U-uncle?"

"Yes, lad?" He answered, voice low and rough, but gentle in a way he only reserved for his nephews on occasion.

"G-go...go home," he whimpered, then coughed into the older dwarfs neck. "Please, _please! _Want Amad! And..Fee...home!"

Thorin swallowed as he listened to the broken requests and drew Kili closer, feeling small fingers release his braids to grip at his furs once more. He looked at Ansley one last time, silently thanking Aule for Kili's life in his arms, and rubbed his nephew's back as he staggered out of the shop, knowing he could never set foot in the place again.

"We're going, Kili, I promise."


	3. Part 3

Thorin sat on the edge of his bed with an inaudible sigh as Kili stood in front of him with wide eyes and a closed mouth.

It'd been two weeks since the orc raid and Kili had yet to speak a full sentence or sleep through the night. Casting a look out his sleeping room window, he noted that this night would be no different as the moon still hung perfectly in the sky.

"Kili, why are you out of bed?"

Why he bothered to ask at such an hour with a worn body begging for sleep before having to endure a day of travel to deliver another order from the forge, he wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't expect an answer, nor did he need one as he already knew why. So without waiting for it, he held out his arms to pick the boy up and place him in his bed, except Kili stepped back as if almost afraid and gave a small sniffle as he looked to his uncle with watery eyes.

"Kili?" He questioned, because he was suddenly at a loss.

For two weeks, the family of four had settled into an odd, heart-wrenching pattern of prying Kili off of Thorin's leg in the morning as he made to leave for work in the forge followed by the oldest sister-son doing his best to entertain his abnormally quiet brother that jumped at shadows, but hid in Fili's own until Dis walked by after completing morning chores. Then, he would cling to her skirts instead.

By the time the boys settled down for a nap, Dis had to stop her work completely in order to cradled Kili in her arms so he would be able to rest until his regular nightmare woke him and he was back to hiding in Fili's shadow until Thorin came home for supper.

Kili would pick at his food, jump when a fork scratched across a plate with a loud scrape, and only take a bite when he was miraculously convinced to do so. After supper, the youngest of their family would sit as close to Thorin as his uncle would allow given that particular afternoon's mood, then he'd be off to bed, curling up as close to Fili as possible.

A couple of hours would creep by before tormented screams woke the entire house, but by the time Dis and Thorin would arrive in the boys' room, Fili would already have calmed his brother down to quiet sniffles and would be in the middle of changing Kili's clothes with whispered assurances that he needn't be ashamed of anything, before guiding them to the opposite bed with dry sheets while Dis pulled the soiled ones from the other.

Then, in a less amount of time as before, Kili would wake again without screams or wet undergarments, but with a racing heart, would sneak into Thorin's room for the rest of the night. Whether it was because he wanted his uncle, or just felt too guilty to wake his mother and sibling again, the exiled King wasn't entirely certain. But every night, Thorin would pick the boy up and place him in the bed next to him for a couple more hours of sleep without resistance, except this one.

Kili had never refused to be picked up and a part of Thorin, the really haggard and sore part of him, begged Mahal that this wasn't another terrified phase they were going to have to encounter.

"What is it, lad?"

Kili started to fumble with the bandage on his bruised wrist that Oin had encouraged to keep wrapped until the cut had healed to ward off infection.

"Is your wrist bothering you?" Thorin guessed when Kili remained silent but as soon as he brought attention to the injury, the young dwarf dropped his hands by his side so the conversation about the wound couldn't even start.

Kili had quelled Thorin's suspicions on the third night after the attack after a harsh nightmare left the prince soiling himself from both ends. When he had calmed down enough, he finally confided in his uncle that he'd killed an orc with the bow, but as much as Thorin wanted to praise him for the astounding feat and bravery, he kept his admiration to himself at the sight of his distraught nephew and appalled sister.

Staring wearily at the child standing in front of him, he watched Kili shake his head at his question, and started picking at the bandage again. Thorin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and called once more, "Then, what is it?"

Kili looked up, and for the first time in two weeks Thorin saw something staring back at him that he hadn't seen in a long time from the boy. Roasting in a small spark in the dark eyes that were illuminated by the candle light on the nightstand was determination and Thorin settled his eyes to match.

"I...I don't want...," Kili trailed off, before swallowing and straightening his shoulders to stand in front of his uncle like that of a prince. With his voice a whisper, he finished, "I don't want to be scared anymore."

For two weeks, the small family had all been anticipating the day when Kili would speak in full sentences again with a mouth moving quicker than his mind in an air of exuberance, but whatever Thorin had envisioned his first full sentence to be, it wasn't that and if he acknowledged the drop in his chest at the words, he'd realize that he's not as guarded as he believes himself to be.

Thorin let a long pint up sigh escape him and motioned for Kili to come closer. His sister-son obeyed and the heir to Erebor placed a hand to the side of the lad's neck.

"Kili, it's alright to be scared," he assured. "When I've been in battle, I've been afriad."

"But...but you're a king! I thought..kings weren't afraid of anything," Kili replied with wide eyes.

Thorin shook his head, "Everyone has something they are fearful of, but it's what you do with that fear that makes the difference."

Kili seemed to think about that explanation for a moment before leaning into the older dwarf's legs. "What do you do with it?"

"I use it. You see, if I know what I'm afraid of, I can face it and do everything in my power to prevent it from coming to pass."

Thorin watched as Kili's face twisted in deep thought before the boy looked up at him again. "Uncle? Am I...am I brave? Like you and Fee?"

Thorin picked his nephew up and held him in his lap at arms length so he could still set his gaze on him. "Of course. You're in the line of Durin. It's in you."

Kili bit his lip, "It's just that Fili says that he's brave because other people depend on him, and...and you're brave because our people depend on you, except...nobody depends on me, but uncle?"

Thorin briefly let the idea of his nephew believing that no one depended on him distract him until tiny fingers tugged at his sleeve and he jostled his knee for Kili to continue.

"I...I felt brave...when I...k-killed that orc. I mean...I was really scared, but Fee...I remembered when Fee taught me how to shoot with our toy bow and... it was like he was there and I wasn't scared then. Does that still make me brave?"

Thorin brought the child's forehead to his own in a rare display of affection and let his voice rumble off his tongue like a slow roll of thunder, calm and quiet, "The bravest, Kili. Even braver than I."

* * *

><p>Upon the next sunrise as the dwarfish family of four ate their morning meal, Kili sat on the bench with a normal amount of space between them and hungrily ate at the muffin on his plate until crumbs littered the front of his tunic and the surface of his plate.<p>

"Amad, may I have another?" He asked, grinning as if they were all caught in a memory of a prior time to the orc attack.

Dis blinked at her son before turning her head slowly to catch Thorin's gaze as she reached for the muffin basket. Still glancing between her hungry son and brother who was hiding a grin by holding his own breakfast muffin up to his mouth and nibbling on it, she handed the basket to her boy. "As much as you want, Kili. But share with your brother if he wants extra."

Kili took the basket with eager hands, pulling out a muffin he eyed to be the largest before extending it to his brother sitting beside him. "Want some, Fee?"

Fili, like his mother, blinked at the younger dwarf, but slowly shook his head to decline before giving into a grin that he hadn't had in a long time. "No, nadadith. I'm quite full. Eat as much as you would like, but not too much. Wouldn't want you to become like Mister Bombur, then we could no longer race for I would surely win every time. It wouldn't just be your short legs holding you back."

Fili whole-heartedly laughed as his brother scrunched his face up into a playful scowl. "I bet I can eat three muffins and still beat you to the pony stables!" Kili wagered around another bite of his second muffin.

Thorin and Dis watched delightedly as familiar brotherly banter filled their home for the first time in two weeks time, but at the sight of the boys wiggling to the end of their seats to dash away, Thorin reluctantly stepped in. "Boys, settle down. You can have your race later. Fili, we need to get going soon, so finish your breakfast."

The house fell utterly silent as Kili suddenly dropped his second muffin onto his plate and poked at it while watching the crumbs tumble off like rocks in a landslide. "Wh-where are you going?"

Fili, as well as his Uncle, looked to Dis for aid, not knowing the best thing to say for fear of killing Kili's sudden behavior change. She wiped at her mouth before reaching across the table and taking her son's arm in her hand to give it a squeeze.

"Your uncle needs help at the forge today, but I need help acquiring some apples for tonight's treat," she explained, deciding in a split second to make Kili's beloved apple dessert cakes for supper at the sight of his returning appetite. "You wouldn't happen to know of a way I could pick the apples from that dreadfully high tree out back would you, Kili?"

Kili slowly maneuvered his arm out of his mother's grasp with a small smile as he placed both hands in his lap. "I could pick them for you mother. I like climbing trees," he replied, but all could see his excitement was feigned.

"Oh, that would be most helpful. We shall have some delicious apple cakes for your return, boys," she spoke to Thorin and Fili as they excused themselves from the table only to be halted in their movements by Kili's small voice.

"You're making a delivery, aren't you?"

Fili blinked at his uncle as the elder began moving to the cloak rack with a gruff, "No, lad," over his shoulder.

"To the settlement on the East," Kili continued, not even giving thought to his uncle's lie.

"Kili-" Dis began as she rounded the table to her son's side, but her youngest stood abruptly and looked to his uncle with that same spark from the night before.

"I want to go with you."

Thorin shrugged into his cloak before bending down and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Not today, Kili. Help your mother with the apples."

Kili began shaking his head in the middle of Thorin's response. "No! I want to go with you and Fee! Please, uncle!"

"I said no, Kili," Thorin shot back a bit more harsh than he intended, but stood nonetheless, and moved towards the door without another word.

"Nadadith," Fili began to console as he reached out towards his brother, but Kili darted out of the way and glared at the king.

"You lied," the youngest accused and caused Thorin to turn towards him once more. "You said I was brave, but you don't believe it."

"Kili. Enough," Dis warned, but Thorin held up his hand to stop her.

"It's not that, lad. My word is true. I-"

"Then let me go with you!" Kili demanded as Thorin stood before him.

"You don't have to do this," Thorin knelt down and grasped the back of his neck. "You don't have anything to prove."

"Thorin-" Dis turned her warning to her brother, clearly not liking that he was about to give in if Kili demanded to go once more.

"I want to go. I need to go," the youngest insisted, before turning to his mother. "Please, Amad. Please, let me go with uncle and Fili."

* * *

><p>Kili had left both his uncle and brother speechless when they reached the village. Expecting to deal with a terrified dwarfling that clung to them with shivers and sniffles, both were surprised when the smallest dwarfish prince merely slowed his steps and took Fili's fingers in his as they traveled through the settlement on a different route that avoided any place Thorin and Kili had been before.<p>

As he waited on Fili to come back from using the toilet from the dining hall they'd stopped at before their returning journey, Thorin felt small, familiar fingers wiggle between his own and curl around them. Looking down at their owner, he noticed Kili staring up at him.

Kili tugged on his hand, "Uncle?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled, glancing around to see if something had frightened the boy.

"Can we...can we go..." Kili trailed off and bit his lip with uncertainty, but gave his uncle the wrong impression as he didn't finish his request.

"Of course, lad. Soon as your brother returns, we're headed home," he reassured while picking him up and settling him on his hip.

"No, I mean..." Kili began shaking his head and twirling one of his elder's braids in his fingers. "I mean, can we go to...the toyshop?"

Thorin swallowed something he'd recognize as panic if he bothered to identify it, tightening his arms unconsciously until Kili squirmed in discomfort. "No."

"But-"

"I said, no, Kili. Now go fetch your brother. We're leaving," Thorin demanded as he placed the lad on the ground and nudged his nephew in the direction of the water closet. Once Kili was down the hall, Thorin rubbed a hand down his face as images of Ansley's corpse assaulted him and for a horrifying moment he was standing in the shop looking at two bloody figures instead of just one and Kili's lifeless eyes stared up at him from the body next to the toymaker's.

"Uncle?" a voice next to him startled him, although he didn't physically give in to the jolt except to turn his head quickly in the direction in which it came. "Are you ok?" Fili asked as he stood before him.

Thorin nodded, but noticed his oldest sister-son standing alone and glancing around. "Where's Kili?"

"Did he not fetch you?" Thorin demanded, moving forward.

Fili stepped back slightly, caught off guard by his uncle's sudden change in demeanor. "No."

"Kili?" Thorin yelled, pushing past his nephew to head in the direction in which he'd sent the missing dwarf. Gaining no response as he moved through the dining hall with haste, Thorin suddenly stopped at the sight of the back door standing ajar and felt as if he'd received a blade to the chest.

* * *

><p>Thorin's feet knew where to lead him as he ran through the settlement, vaguely paying attention to Fili's puffing breaths and quick footsteps behind him as he struggled to keep up with the king's longer strides.<p>

Finally he found himself standing in front of the toyshop, paying little mind to the name that replaced Ansley's as he pushed the door open with thundering force. The new owner, a lanky, young man jerked up from where he had been hunched over at something near the back of the shop and glared at Thorin as he rushed in.

"Kili!" Thorin called, ignoring the man all together as he walked through the shop. Suddenly, a dwarfish child appeared in front of him with a wide grin while clutching something to his chest.

"Kili," Thorin growled out again as if the word would save his heart from its quickened pace and dropped to his knees in front of the boy while pulling him close.

"What in Durin's name do you think you're doing?" He demanded, pushing the dwarf away from him to hold the child at arm's length with a frown that he knew both nephews were fearful of.

Kili swallowed hard and fumbled with the object in his hands before extending it out to his uncle in offering.

Thorin looked down at the thing thrust into his hands to see a small wooden lion figure laying in his open palm. Raising an eyebrow, he rolled the toy between his fingers but stopped when his eyes spotted a small engraving on the underbelly of the animal. There in small letters was his name as if he himself had claimed this plaything as his own.

Finally peeling his eyes away from the peculiar piece, he glanced back up at his nephew who watched him with a proud grin. "What is this?"

"I made it...well, Mister Ansley," Kili swallowed as his eyes travelled to a darkened spot on the floor before shaking his head to clear it from horrid images, "helped me make it for you when we were hiding. I picked the lion 'cause Fee says he's brave like the lion in Amad's story because people need him to be, and I...I needed you to be when the...when the monsters came. But last night...you said I was braver than you, but I was still really 'fraid and I don't want you to feel more scared than me, because I...I need you and don't want you to leave like my Adad, so I had to come and get it so you'd remember to be brave."

Thorin breathed through his nose, feeling his heart soften the beating it gave the inside of his chest before he gripped the boy's shoulders. "Kili, your father never left you. He was taken from you, and sometimes that happens no matter how brave a person believes themselves to be, but he didn't leave you."

"Like Mister Ansley was taken?" Kili asked, horrific memories swirling like waves caught in a storm in misty eyes.

Thorin swallowed and brushed a thumb across his nephew's cheek as a stray tear crested over before nodding. "Yeah, Kili. Something like that."

The youngest heir's eyes suddenly widened. "Was it because he was helping you?"

For a brief moment, Thorin was back at the Battle of Azanulbizar with the deepest pit of grief, anger, and guilt knotting in his stomach, all of it settling there to eat away at him. However, a small warmth was pressed against the side of his face, bringing him back, and he reached up, blinking the memories out of his eyes, and placed his hand over the presence noticing that it was Kili's hand.

"It's just that when Mister Ansley only hid me in the cupboard, I asked him if he was going to help you and he said yes. And he did! Because you came back! I wanted him to bring you back, so he helped you!" Kili explained with a grin, pulling his hand from underneath his uncle's so that he could finger the bead on one of the king's dark braids.

Faltering for a moment, Thorin removed Kili's hand from his braid with a soft, "Aye, he did help me," but with an entirely different meaning. For he knew that Ansley hadn't brought him back to Kili, but that he made it possible for Kili to come back to and his chest struggled with the great sense of relief, gratitude, and guilt that came with it.

But Kili's arms suddenly wound around his neck with a whispered, "Uncle," into Thorin's hair and waiting for a response. Once the king hugged the child to himself with a low, "Yes?", Kili moved his legs in a motion that meant he wanted to be picked up and his elder obliged.

Safely in Thorin's arms, Kili uncurled himself from around his uncle so that he could press their foreheads together and said, "I'm really glad that Adad and Mister Ansley helped you."

Feeling the lion still held in his hand, he hugged Kili tighter and in selfish silence knew that he was too.

* * *

><p><em>Years later, on the quest to reclaim Erebor...<em>

"Finally, some good meat!" Fili exclaimed as he sat down beside his uncle by the fire with their dinner.

Thorin took the offered portion with a nod. "Aye, I see your brother has managed quite the hunt this night. If he becomes a better archer, the Elves might try to claim him."

Fili laughed in agreement around the bite he'd just taken and chewed happily with a satisfied swallow afterwards. "He was taught by quite the skillful bowman as I recall," he replied giving his uncle a knowing grin as both thought of when Thorin began teaching Kili how to use the archer's weapon properly all those years ago once his wrist had healed.

The King Under the Mountain let a small smirk play beneath his beard, but shook his head. "That he was, but it is not I who can claim such a title."

"Then who?" Fili questioned, completely confused having not remembered anyone other than Dwalin aiding Kili in archery and Thorin was by far the better bowman.

"You."

Fili laughed, almost choking on a bite he'd just taken at the absurd response. "It's good to know there's still humor left in you, Uncle."

Thorin raised his eyebrows and bit off a piece of meat. While chewing he explained, "It's not a joke. You remember the first time he shot an arrow, killed that orc?"

"Of course," Fili replied, mood becoming solemn in an instant at the memory.

"Did you know that when he had to shoot, he thought about the time you taught him with your toy bow?"

Fili laughed again, shaking his head. "I hardly knew what I was talking about. We were just shooting his soldiers off the fence!"

"Even so, he said that it made him feel brave because it was like you were there, telling him what to do," Thorin provided with a smirk. "So in some ways you can take credit for this meal."

Uncle and nephew shared a laugh as they finished eating, but as they spotted Kili heading towards them, clean from hunting and preparing his kill, Fili shook his head and nudged Thorin's arm. "No, I think I'd rather take credit that Kili's still here with us," he murmured, until Kili stood before them. Then, he raised his voice and eyed his brother, "Even if he does smell like a troll."

"I don't smell like a troll. You smell like a troll. I just bathed," Kili defended, punching his brother in the arm as he sat down beside him with his own supper in hand. Then, with a gleam in his eye, he leaned over to his brother and whispered, "But the truth of it is, it's probably Uncle."

Fili grinned, but new well enough not to laugh because Kili had never been the best at whispering. As expected, Thorin abruptly stood and turned to his youngest sister-son. "Kili, since I smell so bad I won't torture you with having to be near me so you can take first watch."

Kili choked, but recovered quickly so he could groan. Fili silently mocked him behind their uncle's retreating back.

"And Fili, you will as well since you are taunting your brother," Thorin added, without ever having to turn around. Upon Kili's returned laughter nearly drowning out Fili's complaints, the king walked over to set up his bedroll for the night.

As he dug in his pack, he felt his fingers brush against a small piece of wood and pulled it out. Opening his hand, he looked down at a small wooden lion figurine while tracing a finger over his name etched in the underbelly.

The trip to reclaim Erebor would be difficult, but Thorin wasn't discouraged, because he had a reason to be brave.

* * *

><p>As Gandalf led the company to the hidden passage to Rivendell, unbeknownst to his dwarfish companions and the hobbit, they pressed themselves against the boulder they sought shelter behind as the sound of the orcs and wargs chasing them echoed across the land. Startled, they went rigid when a warg and its rider jumped on top of the rock while sniffing out its prey.<p>

Thorin caught Kili's gaze out of the corner of his eye and gave him an endorsing nod in their silent conversation. Beside them, Fili watched as his brother gripped the bow he'd made his very first kill with all those years ago well before he'd been prepared to and pulled an arrow from his quiver, before glancing back up to see if the warg had come closer.

Kili, in the split seconds it took to move out from hiding, relived a memory from long ago as his fingers notched the arrow and pulled back the string.

"_I don't know, Fee."_

"_Come on, don't you want to be just like Uncle? He uses a bow sometimes," Fili encouraged and moved around his brother to position the younger dwarf to shoot the toy arrow at one of Kili's wooden soldiers placed on the fence. Bending down so he was the same height as his brother, Fili placed his hands on top of Kili's and together they pulled the arrow back and Fili helped him aim. _

"_Take a deep breath, Kili," the oldest instructed._

"_Now let it out," Fili said and waited for his brother to comply, "Block out all the other sounds. Just listen to me, Kili. Forget everything else. Steady your hands. On the count three, we let go. One, two,-"_

"Three," he whispered as he slid his fingers from the wire and let the arrow fly, hitting the warg, then pulling another arrow and shooting the orc before watching them both tumble off the rock.

Kili wasn't sure if he'd ever be as brave as Thorin or Fili, but every time he pulled back the string of his bow, he was never afraid.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!<p> 


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